Knowing some of the person(s) on here, I'm really excited to see what will come out of their fellowships. While I remain a little skeptical of the project as a whole, for these promising individuals it's really not an end-of-the-world decision if things don't work out and they don't revolutionize the universe in 2 years; they could always go back to their usual tracks. That being said, I think that the Thiel fellowships are a good springboard such that, whatever their immediate success, they will have learned interesting skills.